Truck Upcycling With Lady Lydia

[Sobeknofret]

is this really tea? Berries in hot water?  Can we have coffee as an option as well?  Cocoa? Wine?  I would say most of my friends would give me the side eye if I gave them a few berried in hot water and called it tea.

-If pressed for time, the dollar stores have crackers and cheese and all manner of things to set out for a tea party. Hot tea (try my fragrant berry tea- a few berries with hot water!) served in. A tea cup has a way of making any humble food a delicacy and any occasion a high-end celebration

Ugh. So much to unpack in that dreadful post. And yes, putting berries in hot water is not a fucking tea. It's hot berry juice and it's gross. And china from the dollar tree doesn't make anything a delicacy, it makes it sadder. Inmates in for-profit prisons eat meals that are cheerful compared to purple hot water and cheese slices. Cripes.

 

You will suffer many strange remarks such as "I can't do anything like this myself, and I can't do it as well as you, so I don't want to come."  

No, because that never happened. Lydia is a liar. No, that's not quite right. Lydia is a fabulist; anyone who thinks that a length of cheap fleece is a coat could possibly convince herself that people are intimidated by her hospitality skills. They are not, because Lydia doesn't really offer hospitality. She isn't extending good fellowship or sharing delicious food or having conversations - she's LARPing all by herself, and doing it very badly. What she wants is for all her neighbors to drop abandon their hobbies, jobs, and ideas of a good time in favor of putting on garish pink costumes and pretending to be Nice Victorian Ladies. Of course, she doesn't actually read anything, so she has no idea of how the Victorians of her dreams actually lived. Nor does she realize that Victorians practices their form of hospitality because it fit in with their lifestyle and societal expectations. Today things are different, so the ways we entertain are different.

I live near a display garden that has an annual tea where people dress up and indulge in insanely complicated pastries and whatnot. It's a fundraiser, but more that that it's a goofy social event where everybody acknowledges that they're playing dress and has a good time. 

And in 1880 a woman of Lydia's station would count herself lucky to have three dresses in her closet, and they would all be dark and plain as befitting her age and role as a minister's wife. Christ.

 

This is a woman who said that she was sure that there were Christian slave owners who let their female slaves stay in their cabins all day and keep house for their slave husbands, making sure that they had a hot dinner when they came in from the fields. Therefore, even slave women knew their place was in the home. Her grasp of history is...tenuous...at best.

[AmazonGrace]

Yeah and the Victorian ladies who were able to host happy little delicate tea parties for the pastor's wife, thus proving that the woman's place is at home and not working for money, often employed some maids who worked for money...

[VodouDoll]

Holy cow, AmazonGrace, that was depressing. Does this woman have any friends? Why all the hand-wringing about how to invite people over and make sure they invite you in return? Just pick up the phone and call your friends, Lydia! All you have to say is, "We want to order pizza and play board games next Saturday. Are you interested?" Invite your neighbor over for a happy hour cocktail or glass of wine. Schedule a blowout feast with your best girlfriends and cook it together. Who cares if they invite you back right away; quid pro quo has no place in friendships anyhow. Invite people over when you want to see them and let them do the same for you. If you're true friends it'll all even out.

Also, now I know that she makes her table cloths and dresses out of the same fabrics when she throws a party. Because that's not weird.

She has very faux-Victorian ideas about what hospitality means. If it's not a formal "call" it's not hospitality. She often decries how informal people have gotten in the modern era. She thinks she'd be much happier and the world would be a happier place if we could all go back to the Victorian era (she wouldn't be happier in a genuine Victorian era dress or home anyway.)

And no, she doesn't have any friends. That's what the little jab about inviting pastor's wives was about- she's a pastor's wife!

Ah, I see! So it's not about friends spending time together because they enjoy each other's company; it's about treating visits as a kind of social currency: you give me X and I'll give you Y. I had you over for sandwiches and now you owe me. How sad and lonely. And unfun. Lady Lydia is kidding herself if she thinks people would prefer her Bizarro World Dainty Lady Social Call with hot berry water and aprons and fussy weird teacups to actually kicking back with friends. She must be living in a dream world if she honestly thinks people would prefer her brand of entertaining to what friends normally do together.

[ViolaSebastian]

This? http://retrohomemaking.blogspot.com/

Wow. That is truly crazy pants. She complains about constantly busy with appointments, cooking, and cleaning, but all she really seems to do is encounter incredibly rude people and blog about it.

This woman is...troubled. And it seems she's mistaking polite small talk for insults. "So what do you do for a living?" is the most common ice-breaker out there, and I highly doubt that many random people have a negative opinion on this lady being a housewife, or, even if they do, that they care enough to express it to her. 

We see more and more weak men in today's society thanks to feminism. These men father children and see no problem in sending their infants to daycare at six weeks old so that their wives go back to work and pay for that.  

Yeesh, who is the judgmental one now, lady? 

[Peas n carrots]

Lady Lydia: if Walter Mitty was real and boring as fuck.

[VodouDoll]

http://homeliving.blogspot.com/2015/10/blog-counter.html

 

I've never seen a photo of Lydia before - she's not even elderly! She's, like, middle aged! What is her deal? I was sure she was an 80 year old great grandma type. 

 

Also she's going to build a Cinderella coach out of a wagon and some cardboard and park it next to her front door. That's not weird.

[formergothardite]

I thought she was much older too. How old is she? I just realized that when she invited guest to have tea on an old bench out in her yard that she served them berry tea. I was thinking it was a berry flavored tea, but it sounds like it might have been hot water poured over berries. I wonder if her rain-drop tea is just rain water. 

It looks like the truck has lost all the pink decorations. 

[salex]

I am trying to figure out a woman who wants to convert an old wagon into a full size cinderella carriage with cardboard.  Is this what starving artists do who can't afford a welder and misc found steel?  Her sewing is not bad, but why she put the ruffle on the bottom of that maxi dress... makes it look very night gownish. 

I hope she is happy, as she seems to be frittering her life away.

 

[danvillebelle]

I love how she plasters that copyright blurb right over the middle of her picture...as if anyone is going to want to steal a blurry, poorly-taken photo of a middle-aged woman in a nightgown standing in dead grass.  

 

[AmazonGrace]

Plot twist: when the cardboard carriage is ready and waiting outside her door, it starts to rain heavily.

[salex]

It may be part of a fairy tale theme.  The cardboard mirror she made before from Snow White, a cardboard carriage from Cinderella. 

 

Maybe we'll get something like this... 

 

OR this

[Crocoduck]

So, yesterday I read the Mrs. White thread and now I've met Lady Lydia. So, these women want to live in a time when women routinely died during childbirth, child labor was common and women had no rights to own property? These are the "genteel" "Christian" times they long for?

[salex]

So, yesterday I read the Mrs. White thread and now I've met Lady Lydia. So, these women want to live in a time when women routinely died during childbirth, child labor was common and women had no rights to own property? These are the "genteel" "Christian" times they long for?

Oh, you are just being silly now.  They know that all that is just feminist lies.  Childbirth is a natural and beautiful thing, children always were home with their mothers, who never worked outside the home and before feminists, men could be counted on to vote for what was good and fair for women so there was not need for women to vote. And why would a woman want to own property, when she has husband, fathers, brothers, cousins and strangers who could manage property and care for her. 

[Crocoduck]

So, yesterday I read the Mrs. White thread and now I've met Lady Lydia. So, these women want to live in a time when women routinely died during childbirth, child labor was common and women had no rights to own property? These are the "genteel" "Christian" times they long for?

Oh, you are just being silly now.  They know that all that is just feminist lies.  Childbirth is a natural and beautiful thing, children always were home with their mothers, who never worked outside the home and before feminists, men could be counted on to vote for what was good and fair for women so there was not need for women to vote. And why would a woman want to own property, when she has husband, fathers, brothers, cousins and strangers who could manage property and care for her. 

Of course you're right, salex. My mind must have been poisoned by ebil feminists and public schools. Before 1960, the world was better than a fairy tale (as long as you were white, Christian, male and upper class)!

[Sobeknofret]

So, yesterday I read the Mrs. White thread and now I've met Lady Lydia. So, these women want to live in a time when women routinely died during childbirth, child labor was common and women had no rights to own property? These are the "genteel" "Christian" times they long for?

Oh, you are just being silly now.  They know that all that is just feminist lies.  Childbirth is a natural and beautiful thing, children always were home with their mothers, who never worked outside the home and before feminists, men could be counted on to vote for what was good and fair for women so there was not need for women to vote. And why would a woman want to own property, when she has husband, fathers, brothers, cousins and strangers who could manage property and care for her. 

One of the things that surprised me about the Elsie Dinsmore books, is that when Elsie becomes an adult, her father sits her down and makes her go over all of the books of her estate- property, money, and all- so that she thoroughly understands the details of her fortune, and how he maintained her money for her while she was a minor. Even after her marriage, it's made quite clear that her money and property are *hers* and she's responsible for keeping track of everything.

Mrs. White and Lydia are happy to remain in the dark about their finances, and that's going to come back to bite them in the ass when their spouses pass. This isn't the Victorian era, and I'm not sure that even then it was the norm to have only one spouse making all the financial decisions, especially among the middle and working class. Mrs. White especially seems to live on the edge of not-so-genteel poverty, and when her husband goes, she's going to be in for one hell of a shock.

[JillsFlowerHeadband]

So, yesterday I read the Mrs. White thread and now I've met Lady Lydia. So, these women want to live in a time when women routinely died during childbirth, child labor was common and women had no rights to own property? These are the "genteel" "Christian" times they long for?

Oh, you are just being silly now.  They know that all that is just feminist lies.  Childbirth is a natural and beautiful thing, children always were home with their mothers, who never worked outside the home and before feminists, men could be counted on to vote for what was good and fair for women so there was not need for women to vote. And why would a woman want to own property, when she has husband, fathers, brothers, cousins and strangers who could manage property and care for her. 

One of the things that surprised me about the Elsie Dinsmore books, is that when Elsie becomes an adult, her father sits her down and makes her go over all of the books of her estate- property, money, and all- so that she thoroughly understands the details of her fortune, and how he maintained her money for her while she was a minor. Even after her marriage, it's made quite clear that her money and property are *hers* and she's responsible for keeping track of everything.

Mrs. White and Lydia are happy to remain in the dark about their finances, and that's going to come back to bite them in the ass when their spouses pass. This isn't the Victorian era, and I'm not sure that even then it was the norm to have only one spouse making all the financial decisions, especially among the middle and working class. Mrs. White especially seems to live on the edge of not-so-genteel poverty, and when her husband goes, she's going to be in for one hell of a shock.

Oh, then she'll make passive aggressive little posts (gentle smile) about how Mister failed to leave her enough savings to carry on in life and that she has to give up the "estate" to live with one of the children or something.  

[Peas n carrots]

I think the simple fact is Mrs. White and Lady Lydia just want to be taken care of so they have a gentle ride through life. For some reason they think it's or should be that easy for every woman.

I wonder if they expect sons to take care of them when their husbands pass? I think for them just the thought of thinking beyond homemaking is an anathema.

[notfundy]

You know, ALL of these women seem to think that nothing is ever going to happen to their "providers" (daddies or husbands).  

You know, like those husbands/daddies might not ever become disabled, lose their employment (of course, some believe only in working for oneself ...and the Lord, I guess).    Or heaven forbid - DIE!    Since divorce is apparently out of the question, I won't include it here.  

It happens.  What then?  Rely on the kindness of others, I suppose.  

 

[salex]

Ok, Worst Case scenarios.  I expect/hope that Ken has some investments/401K/IRAs around that Lorri would get, and that he has been paying in self employment tax over the years so she would qualify for widow's benefits from Social Security. I expect they have some life insurance, but don't know. 

Lady Lydia....if her minister husband hasn't paid into Social Security (is it mandatory for ministers???) they she could be real and truly screwed.   She discusses insurance (instead of college or working for women in case their husbands die) but who knows if she has any.  ISn't her relationship wtih at least one daughter a bit itchy, which might make it harder to move in with her children?  Do they own that house?  I know she seems not to have a second car in the family, does she drive?

Mrs. White would likely plop down with one of her children and wait to be waited upon.  I think lydia might as well, if she could manage it.  Mrs white worked with her husband in a store for a while, however, who knows if that translates into the ability to work at walmart.  I'm not sure if she nor Lydia have the mental strength to make that change.  It doesn't sound lMr. White has earned enough that her widow's benefits would be very high. 

 

However, they all have worked hard to get exactly where they are and if that turns out to be up shit creek, well that has been where they purposely put themselves (and urged others to go as well)

 

 

 

[Crocoduck]

I'm sure Mrs. White think her children owe her a care free retirement because they come from a "legitimate" family.

[Peas n carrots]

Ok, Worst Case scenarios.  I expect/hope that Ken has some investments/401K/IRAs around that Lorri would get, and that he has been paying in self employment tax over the years so she would qualify for widow's benefits from Social Security. I expect they have some life insurance, but don't know. 

Lady Lydia....if her minister husband hasn't paid into Social Security (is it mandatory for ministers???) they she could be real and truly screwed.   She discusses insurance (instead of college or working for women in case their husbands die) but who knows if she has any.  ISn't her relationship wtih at least one daughter a bit itchy, which might make it harder to move in with her children?  Do they own that house?  I know she seems not to have a second car in the family, does she drive?

Mrs. White would likely plop down with one of her children and wait to be waited upon.  I think lydia might as well, if she could manage it.  Mrs white worked with her husband in a store for a while, however, who knows if that translates into the ability to work at walmart.  I'm not sure if she nor Lydia have the mental strength to make that change.  It doesn't sound lMr. White has earned enough that her widow's benefits would be very high. 

 

However, they all have worked hard to get exactly where they are and if that turns out to be up shit creek, well that has been where they purposely put themselves (and urged others to go as well)

 

 

 

Lori is lucky she has children who can help her access a potential 401K or other investment. I can see her having a meltdown dealing with accessing that money. But considering where she lives she better hope Ken left a nice nest egg.

Seriously that woman is a living, breathing Lucille Bluth.

[Black Aliss]

http://homeliving.blogspot.com/2015/10/blog-counter.html

 

I've never seen a photo of Lydia before - she's not even elderly! She's, like, middle aged! What is her deal? I was sure she was an 80 year old great grandma type. 

I thought that was her adult daughter. I'm pretty sure Lydia is 60-ish.

[formergothardite]

Lady Lydia made a video! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpJgnLf7R_A

[CTRLZero]

Goodness, thank you for posting that motivational video.  It seems I have been doing everything wrong.  First, I was watching the video while up and about in my pajamas!   Second, I did not make a list of three important things to do last night before bedtime.  I shall immediately rectify this situation by putting "change out of pajamas" as the first item.  Honestly, Lydia looks to be my age and I picked up on the big sigh when she went through her list of self-rewards, her mention of worry and anxiety (avoided by a crock pot meal), etc.

I am retired, and I get that you must fill all the long hours when your kids are grown and gone, and your housekeeping chores are pretty light.  My approach is slightly different.  An exercise video was up after Lydia's video--that would be me!  If Jesus is coming over to be a house guest, I am going to whip off my clean apron and have him admire my abs.  Kidding!  I would invite him to come along for a run, followed by a crock pot meal, however.